Honored Member

Each year, the Association selects an individual whose activities in the field of anatomy have contributed significantly and bestows on them the AACA Honored Member Award. Below is the list of these recipients to date. Their contributions to the field of clinical-anatomy can be seen by clicking on their name.

The membership of the Association is asked to refer names of suggested individuals for suitable future Honored Member status to any member of the Executive Council prior to September of any given year. The decision for each subsequent year is made at the Interim Executive Council meeting in October annually.

R. Benton Adkins, Jr. Distinguished Service Award

Initiated in 2003 by Executive Council, the R. Benton Adkins Jr. Distinguished Service Award was created to honor the memory of R. Benton Adkins, Jr. M.D. Benton was one of the founding members of the AACA and worked tirelessly to promote the Association and its aims both while serving on and off Council.

This award is not meant to necessarily be given out annually unless there is an individual the Council and/or general membership via nomination (see above) feel is deserving of the award.

The following list indicates the individuals to date to have been awarded this honor:

Predoctoral Student Presentation Awards

Each year, the Association selects at least two student presenters that receive a check for $600. U.S. (meant to help defray their travel expenses to the meeting but can be used for whatever the winner deems appropriate). Predoctoral students are defined as doctoral candidate (Ph.D.) students or residents/interns/medical students. This year's award winners can be found on the News page.

Beginning with the 4th Joint Meeting of the AACA/BACA held in New York City in July of 2005, these awards were named for two of our past Honored members who worked hard to attract student members to the Association:

All predoctoral presenters entered into the annual competition will have their platform and/or poster presentation judged by a panel set up by the Program Secretary. In years when there may be no student platform presenter, and/or more than one excellent poster, the number of these awards may increase to three, or all be awarded as Sandy C. Marks Jr. Student Poster Presentation Awards.

Keith and Marion Moore Blue Box Award

Dr. Keith L. Moore, a founding member of the AACA and well-known anatomy textbook author, has established an annual award for graduate and medical students - theKeith and Marion Moore Blue Box Award. The "Blue Box" is used in his textbooks as an indicator of clinical significance, and is quite familiar to students.

The award is for the best student paper published in Clinical Anatomy during a given calendar year/Journal volume. The awardee must be the first author on the Clinical Anatomy paper. The award will consist of a certificate and a check for $500. It is open to graduate and medical students worldwide, even those who have received their PhD or MD's in the year that the paper is published. The student may be nominated by the student's supervisor or anatomy professor.

A Blue Box Award Committee of 3-5 AACA members will be appointed by the AACA President, with the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Anatomy being a member of the committee. The Award may not be presented each year, if a qualified student paper has not been published. The award would be announced and presented at the Annual AACA Meeting Banquet.

Tapan K. Banerji Postgraduate Travel Fellowship in Clinical Anatomy

Dr. Tapan K. Banerji was a Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB), TX. USA, for nearly 28 years. He was greatly admired and respected by his colleagues, fellows, teachers, and students. He was a mentor and advisor to many undergraduate students, clinical residents and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Banerji’s excellence in teaching earned him numerous awards and distinctions including, amongst many others, UTMB’s Teacher of the Year Award, which he received eight times. He was also UTMB’s only nomination for the prestigiousAlpha Omega Alpha (AQA) Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Banerji had been actively involved in research both in the United States and abroad. He had more than 54 publications in peer reviewed journals and has written numerous abstracts and book chapters. Dr. Banerji also presented his research findings at many national and international meetings.

Throughout his 28 year teaching career, Dr. Banerji positively impacted the lives of thousands of students through his passion for teaching and research and his dedication to his students. He took the time to encourage his students and had unwavering faith in his students’ potential for success. It is this enthusiasm he had, not only for his students, but for everyone around him, that made him such a remarkable teacher, mentor, researcher, colleague and friend.

To keep his inspiring legacy alive, his family has established this the Tapan K. Banerji Postgraduate Travel Fellowship in Clinical Anatomy.